September 21, 1993

'Midnight's Children' Wins Special Booker Prize

By JOHN DARNTON

ONDON, Sept. 20 --
Salman Rushdie's "Midnight's Children" was judged the best British novel of the past
quarter-century tonight, and the novelist came out of forced seclusion to accept the honor at a crowded
ceremony in the second floor of a London bookstore.

The 46-year-old author has been in hiding since February 1989, when he was publicly sentenced to
death by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for publication of "The Satanic Verses," a novel Iranian
authorities said blasphemed Islam. In the past year, Mr. Rushdie has made an effort to appear more
frequently in public.

In accepting the honor, which was given to the best among 25 years of winners of the Booker Prize,
Britain's most prestigious literary award, Mr. Rushdie made no mention of his underground existence
and only a passing reference to the controversy "The Satanic Verses" caused. Handling a copy of
"Midnight's Children" temporarily covered in a plain silver jacket -- until it can be specially bound in
leather -- he remarked, "Actually, quite a lot of my books tend to get read in a plain wrapper, so
there's nothing new about that." 'The Greatest Compliment'

He said he was "amazed to be standing here," and added "this is the greatest compliment I have ever
been paid as a writer."

The runner-up for the Booker of Bookers, the judges said, was "Rites of Passage" by the late William
Golding. "Rites of Passage" won in 1980, as Mr. Golding edged out Anthony Burgess, who
conspicuously missed the awards dinner. The competition helped establish the value of the prize.

In 1981, the winner was "Midnight's Children," the story of a boy, Saleem Sinai, born at the time of
India's independence. That year the awards ceremony was first televised and the prize gained a cachet
that was seen in added celebrity and books sales. Mr. Rushdie's first novel "was universally trashed,
sold less than 900 copies and was remaindered," he said. But "Midnight's Children" quickly sold
43,000 copies.

"The Booker Prize changed my life in many ways," Mr. Rushdie said. "Before then my career as a
writer was completely obscure. Overnight it wasn't. I gained confidence." Later he put it differently:
"I walked into literary London as a stranger and I ran off with a check, which feels O.K."

Another former winner found other advantages. "For me the Booker meant that I got foreign rights
and paperback rights and American rights," said Bernice Rubens, who won in 1970 for "The Elected
Member." "No one can live off the English rights. Also, the publishers put on every other book you
ever write 'winner of the Booker Prize' and the public is duped into thinking you won it for that
book." Hailing the Prize Itself

In a sense tonight's ceremony was also to honor the Booker Prize itself, which was first awarded in
1969 to the best novel by a British, Commonwealth, South African or Irish writer. Martyn Goff, the
Booker administrator, said the prize had achieved a distinction after 15 years that it had taken France's
Prix Goncourt 53 years to attain. In 1969 the award amounted to $:5,000. Now it is $:20,000, or
$30,000.

Tonight's ceremony included a Champagne reception attended by several hundred literati at
Waterstone's bookstore in Kensington, West London. It was held under tight security. Bodyguards
followed Mr. Rushdie at a discreet distance and police officers with walkie-talkies patroled the streets
outside.

Sipping mineral water, Mr. Rushdie said he had managed to travel recently, even going to visit Vaclav
Havel, the president of the Czech Republic. "We have something in common," he said. "We're both
writers and the last thing people talk to us about is our writing."